Obama: Jobs must be top priority

Marking the end of a tumultuous week for Washington and Wall Street, President Barack Obama used his weekly address to urge Congress to focus all of its attention on job creation as soon as it reconvenes in September.

“But in the short term, our urgent mission has to be getting this economy growing faster and creating jobs,” he said. “That’s what’s on people’s minds; that’s what matters to families in this country.”

“We are going to get through this,” he said. “Things will get better. And we’re going to get there together.”

Obama echoed this message in Saturday’s address, saying the top priority for Washington must be helping Americans find jobs and building a sense of economic security for middle-class families.

Just as Democrats and Republicans finally came together to resolve the debt ceiling impasse, the president said the two parties must come together once more to tackle unemployment.

“We’ve got to put politics aside to get some things done,” Obama said. “That’s what the American people expect of us.”

As he has said numerous times in recent months, the president stressed that there are immediate steps that Congress can take when it returns to the capital to boost job creation, including extending tax cuts for middle-class families, giving tax credit to companies that hire veterans and getting rid of red tape that can hold back entrepreneurs.

Obama also called on lawmakers to pass the pending free trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama — deals that he said would not only help put people to work, but also put the words “Made in America” on products sold around the world.

The president maintained that each of these steps shares the support of both Democrats and Republicans.

“So I’m going to keep calling on both parties in Congress to put aside their differences and send these bills to my desk so I can sign them right away,” he said. “After all, both parties share power.”

Obama added, “Moving our economy and our country forward is not a Democratic or a Republican responsibility; It is our responsibility as Americans. That’s the spirit we need in Washington right now.”